


Unlooked For But Not Unwelcome

by smug_albatross



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, also that T rating is just because everyone swears, featuring my headcanons about garrus's squad, finds garrus AND his squad still intact, shep wakes up early and derails everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23373772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smug_albatross/pseuds/smug_albatross
Summary: Garrus has never been good atmoving on,but he's doing okay. Commander Shepard has been dead for a year, and he hasn't gotten himself killed yet. He even has a team of people who willingly take his orders - good people, trying to make Omegabetter.Yeah, he's doing okay. Until a dead woman walks into his room.***The Lazarus project works a little too well.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	Unlooked For But Not Unwelcome

Garrus had never been good at _moving on_ , but he'd like to think he was doing okay. Commander Shepard had been dead for a year, and he hadn't gotten himself killed yet. He even had a team of people who willingly took his orders - good people, trying to make Omega _better._

It might be an impossible fight, but he'd gotten them to believe in it. Some days it felt like he was faking it, leading them across a gaping chasm on a tightrope except everyone else was blindfolded - _don't they see how everything we do hangs by a thread_ \- but on other days, days like this one - he felt damn near invincible.

Mierin was waiting for him when he headed downstairs. More specifically, she was leaning against the stairwell, tapping ominously at a datapad while Sensat swore angrily at his omnitool.

"What's the issue?" Garrus asked immediately, recognizing the deep furrow in Mierin's blue brow and knowing it meant trouble.

"Good question," Mierin said slowly. She handed him her datapad. "Take a look at this."

Garrus took a look.

Then he took _another_ look, because that couldn't possibly be right.

"That can't be right," he said aloud, because really, _what the fuck._

Sidonis ambled up and peered over Garrus's shoulder, because Sidonis had no concept of _personal space._ "What the fuck?" he said aloud, because in addition to having no concept of personal space, Sidonis was also a mind-reader.

"Yes," Garrus agreed. What else was there to say, really?

He handed the datapad back to Mierin. "Break it down for me," he said. "What am I looking at, _exactly?"_

"Well..." Mierin floundered for a second before turning to Sensat. "They're your sensors. What happened?"

Sensat didn't even glance up. "The zeta-frequency sonar confirms the organic base material," the batarian growled, "and the IFF-cracker picked up extensive cybernetics, but the ID-scanners are scrambled. I'm trying to isolate the problem, but I can't _fucking_ find it -"

Weaver's calm voice cut through Sensat's rising shout. "Target approaching. Shields up, weapons stowed."

"Don't shoot!" Garrus yelped, darting towards the front of the building where Weaver had his sniper rifle trained on the figure at the opposite side of the bridge. He zoomed in with his visor, confirming what he already knew - what had settled in his gut as truth ever since he'd seen the predatory stalk in her stride, pure confidence and power.

Shepard's eyes met his, even across the distance. She looked -

She looked like hell, and she looked the same. Her face was a mess of glowing red scars, her eyes glinting in the low light of Omega like a varren on the hunt - one of her arms had been entirely replaced by cybernetics, with only a tiny piece of bone poking through at the shoulder, sealed behind a transparent casing. But it was still unmistakably, undeniably _her._

"There's not a problem," Garrus muttered. "Sensat. There's not a problem."

Sensat stopped swearing. "What?"

"Yeah, Garrus," Sidonis agreed. _"What?"_

Garrus sighed. "I said," he repeated, "there's not a problem with your sensors."

He didn't look over his shoulder, but he could feel his team trading looks ranging from dubious to incredulous, possibly wondering if their fearless leader had actually lost his mind this time. Garrus took a moment to be thankful that Krul and Ripper were out in Gozu District, gleefully causing as many problems for the Blood Pack as they could manage. Krul was levelheaded enough, sure, but Ripper probably would have tried to take a bite out of Shepard to see if she was real. (Ripper scared him sometimes. _Vorcha.)_

Weaver's mandibles clicked. "Are you," he said carefully, "sure?"

Garrus watched Shepard stop a few meters away. Her arms were crossed as she looked at him, her weight shifted onto her back foot in that oh-so familiar _don't-give-me-shit_ pose. He wondered what she thought of him now - the last time they'd spoken face-to-face, he'd told her he was going to back to C-Sec. And now here he was, entrenched in the ass-end of the galaxy, killing mercs and not even getting paid for it.

 _Are you proud of me?_ he asked the air.

The air, because Shepard wasn't a mind-reader (which was a vast improvement over _because Shepard was dead)_ , didn't answer.

"Shepard," Garrus greeted thickly.

Shepard grinned. The skin on her face stretched, exposing a deep rift of cybernetics in her chin. "Garrus," she called back, straightening up. "Thought I'd find you here."

"On Omega?" Garrus retorted automatically. "I'm flattered, Shepard." He stepped out of the building, taking _one-two-three_ paces forward until he was standing in front of Shepard, staring at her, drinking in the fact that she was _here, she was alive -_ it made the last year feel like a bad dream.

"I thought..." he trained off, watching the way her vitals spiked in his visor, the way her weight shifted onto her back foot. "I thought you were dead."

Shepard broke eye contact. "I was," she said bluntly. "Cerberus spent a fortune to bring me back."

A chill ran over Garrus's crest. "Cerberus?" he echoed warily. "You remember all those sick experiments they were running?"

Shepard flashed him a toothy, mirthless grin. "Yeah," she agreed. "That's why I woke up, got loose, and killed all their guys. Well, most of them," she amended. "One of them got away, and another one decided he'd rather work for me. Also," she added cheerfully, "I stole their ship. _My_ ship. And also Joker and Chakwas."

Oh. Huh. Okay. "Wait," Garrus said, his mind belatedly catching up to what Shepard was saying. "Joker? And _Chakwas?"_

"Uh-huh. I didn't ask too many questions." Shepard shrugged. "Tali's back with the fleet, Kaiden's a commander now, and I don't know where the hell Liara is, but you..." She trailed off, her face softening under those scars. "I could use someone I trust at my side, Garrus. And I could use a good crew."

Ah. So he was the last one she'd tracked down. It made sense - he probably hadn't been easy to find, on Omega, in fact he'd taken pains to ensure he _couldn't_ be found here (although he wasn't surprised that Shepard had managed it anyway). It made sense, so he tried to ignore the sting.

"You've picked up another impossible fight, I take it?" Garrus asked, already making plans to move his people to - to the - "And what kind of ship did you take from Cerberus, anyway?"

Shepard grinned. "Oh, you'll see." Her good mood didn't last long - her expression turned serious as she stepped closer. "Human colonies are disappearing," she said quietly. "I think it's the Collectors. I pulled the data out of some Cerberus computers, and Joker's been helping me sneak into their databases - it all checks out. Besides," her expression hardened, "the Collectors still owe me a ship."

_The Collectors._

The Collectors had destroyed the _Normandy._

The Collectors had taken Shepard away from the galaxy - from _him._

(She owed him nothing, least of all her companionship, but oh how he had always treasured the time she'd given him -)

And now they were doing the same to others.

"I'm with you," Garrus said immediately.

Shepard grinned.

From behind them, Mierin coughed. _"We're_ with you, Shepard. All of us."

"And also me," Sidonis agreed, sitting on the back of the couch.

"All of you, plus Sidonis," Shepard said dryly. "Got it. Welcome aboard. And Garrus..." she turned to him, a small, peculiar smile on her face. "Welcome back."

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer - all technobabble is made up, I do not know fuck nor shit about the electronics


End file.
